FSYO needs to raise money to support the Youth Orchestras of Southampton. There are many ways you can contribute:
FSYO Membership
Family membership costs just £10 a year. FSYO membership is optional but it is very much appreciated and these subscriptions form an important part of our income. You do not have to have children in our ensembles to be a member and many families continue their membership after their children have grown up.
Please complete a membership form to join.
Supporting us at concerts
On concert day, the friends pay the costs for hiring the venue, any necessary equipment, and for printing programmes and tickets. You can support us at concerts in the following ways :
- Buying tickets
- Buying a programme
- Donating raffle prizes and buying raffle tickets
And most importantly – by advertising our concerts and encouraging others to attend!
Where do my donations go?
If you make a donation to FSYO it’s only natural for you to ask what it’s being used for.
You’ll be pleased to know that all your hard-earned cash goes into supporting the young people in our orchestras. None of the volunteers in the committee or at the events are paid for what they do. We are passionate in our support for the youth orchestras, so we are happy to contribute our time and energies for free. We want to see these young players succeed and grow in music, and it is our privilege to be even a small part of that.
What happens to the money?
The Friends maintain a ‘pot’ for each ensemble from money earned from ticket sales, refreshments or raffles at their concerts.
An orchestra can use money from their own ‘pot’, for example:
- to help with the costs of specialist sectional support at rehearsals
- to buy or hire additional music or instruments
- to subsidise workshops and residential courses
- to hire concert venues
- other unexpected expenses that may arise from time to time.
Income from membership subscriptions, the Pyramid Concert and similar activities is put into a general fund. This can be called on as reasonably required by any of our ensembles, from the junior string groups up to SYO. We use some of this money to support the development of younger players.
As a registered charity, we are bound by Charity Commission rules. Our finances must always be above board. For this reason we may decline a request to temporarily hold money from other, otherwise legitimate sources.